


Jaig Eye Jedi

by JedimasterMegan



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Casual reminder that the Kaminoans suck, Force-Sensitive Clones, Gen, I just really like writing Shaak and Rex's relationship okay, Krell shows up in chapter 2 and everyone low-key hates him, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rex and Cody are the craziest if anyone asks, Rex has anxiety deal with it, Rex is Force-sensitive, Shaak Ti is a good master, The Command Squad has the best fun, cause they're all crazy, kid clones are fun to write
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-26
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-08-30 00:13:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16754158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JedimasterMegan/pseuds/JedimasterMegan
Summary: This is the story of a clone. Not an ordinary clone, mind you. No, there was something special about CT-7567. Something never before seen in a clone. But like the Jedi always say, it is as the Force wills it.





	1. My Jedi Master

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a couple things about this AU before we get started: The Clone Wars have started way earlier, the Jedi are way more lax on the no-attachments thing, and Rex has gotten moved up from his original squad due to his advanced skills into a Command Squad- one with Cody, Wolffe, Bly, and Ponds. The rest of the details should fall into place as the story goes on. Enjoy everyone! :)

The Kaminoians came for him after the midday meal. He had been in his squad's barracks, playing a game with CC-5052 that the longnecks had given them to use in their spare time, something they seemed to be getting less and less of as they got older. He was more than a little disappointed when a Kaminoian caretaker came in and called him away.

"Sorry, gotta go, Bly," he said, hopping down from their bunk. Bly rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything. Most of his  _vode_  were used to the weird things he did by now, like call people by names they didn't have. Whenever someone asked him why he did that, he always replied that it was because it  _was_ their name. That left most people even more confused, but he didn't care. He knew his brothers' names, so he was going to use them. The light said it was right, and he agreed with it.

The Kaminoian lead him through the halls of the training section. That made sense, all things considered. They probably wanted to put him through more testing to make sure he was fit for command track. He was of the CT class after all, and despite his high marks in everything, they still gave him lots of tests to prove he truly was fit to be with the other CC class clones in his squad.

That's why it was a surprise when the Kaminoian led him to a room with only a table and a few chairs. He was given orders to sit there and wait, and then he was left alone.

He walked over to the table, eyes widening once he saw what was lying on top of it. Pieces of flimsi, and  _a whole box of crayons._  Crayons were only a thing the youngest cadets got to use, meaning he hadn't touched a set in  _forever._ He cracked open the box, breathing in the smell of the crayon wax. He loved the training he was doing now, he really did, but there was something he missed about just being able to color.

He sat down in the chair, spreading the flimsi out in front of him. Four sheets. That meant he could make four pictures. But the longnecks might not let him keep  _four_ pictures. Better to just make one really good one and hope he would be able to keep it. He began to draw, losing himself completely in the task. He didn't know how much time had passed when the door to the room opened, making him jump and drop the crayon he was holding.

"Oh! I'm sorry, young one. I didn't mean to scare you." The voice was different, way different than a Kaminoian. When he turned around in his seat, he saw a woman standing there in the doorway. At least he thought it was a woman. She didn't look a lot like most human woman he had seen, probably because she wasn't human. Her skin was red with white spots around her eyes and face. She also had these weird blue and white things that stuck out of her head and fell down to her waist.

She came and took a seat next to him. "Hello there," she said, giving him a smile. "My name is Shaak Ti." The light in him pulsed as she said her name, almost as if it was reaching out for her. That was strange. He's never felt the light act like that before. There must have been something special about her if the light acted that way. "What is your name, young one?"

"I'm CT-7567." He hesitated for a second, but the light said the she was safe, so he continued on. The woman did ask for his  _name_  after all." Sometimes the other cadets call me Rex. Cody says that should be my name. I think I like it." He didn't really know why he added that last part. It just seemed like the right thing to say to her.

She gave him a soft smile. "Is it alright if I call you that?" He hesitated again. The longnecks never liked to call clones by their names, that was something only his brothers reserved for each other. But the light kept pulsing reassuringly. And this woman definitely wasn't a longneck.

"Yeah," he said, nodding. He went back to his drawing, and after a moment's consideration, started drawing Cody next to the drawing he had already done of himself in the future, when he was an actual trooper with armor and everything. Cody was the only one who listened to him when he talked about what the light and what it told him. He was the only one he told about it anymore, everyone else only laughed at him and called him  _dini'la._  But not Cody. He deserved to be in the picture with him. Maybe he'd even get a chance to show it to his  _ori'vod_  later.

The woman sat there for a while, watching him. He didn't mind it. She was soothing in a way, like being around her put him at ease in a way he had only felt a few times before. He couldn't exactly figure out why the woman was like that, and the light didn't tell him any answers. He supposed it must not have been that important then, and he turned his attention back to coloring in the armor on his picture.

"What are you drawing, young one?" the woman asked, peering over his shoulder.

"It's me and Cody. He's my favorite brother, but don't tell CC-3636 that, he'll get mad. Even madder than when I call him Wolffe." He scrunched up his nose at the thought. "Anyways, me and Cody are gonna work together someday." He picked up an orange and started doing the armor designs on Cody.

"Is that what his armor will look like?"

He nodded. "Cody's is gonna be orange. Mine is gonna be blue," he said, pointing out the designs on his own armor.

"What makes you think that?" the woman asked, now watching him draw with a different look in her eyes, more than just the curiosity she had before.

He paused in his coloring, wondering why the woman would have acted like that. Maybe he had been talking too much. The woman didn't seem to mind it though, the light told him she was more entertained than anything. He started coloring again, shrugging his shoulders in response to her earlier question. "I dunno. I just know,"

The woman stared at him for a moment, humming thoughtfully. "You left your helmet blank," she said. It wasn't a question. He still answered.

"Something special is gonna be there. I don't know what it is yet.

The woman hummed again, shifting in her seat. "Rex," she said. The light told him to pay attention. He put down his coloring things and turned to the woman, gazing into her warm brown eyes. "You are a very special clone," she continued, taking his hands in hers.

He frowned up at her. "I'm special?"

"Yes, you are. Tell me, can you feel this?" He frowned again. Feel what-  _Oh_.

His eyes widened. "You have the light too?" he asked incredulously.

The woman laughed, eyes sparkling with amusement. "Yes, I do have the light. Though, I call it something else. Have you ever heard of the Force before?"

He opened his mouth to answer, then closed it. The Kaminoians didn't want the clones knowing about that sort of thing. He heard from older brothers, who heard from even older brothers about the mysterious Force. He didn't want to get them in trouble. But this woman had the light, so it would be okay to tell her, right?

"The Force is what the Jedi have," he said, pulling his hands back into his lap and playing with his fingers. "It helps them do stuff... I think."

The woman smiled. "You're not wrong. A Jedi does have the Force. I have the Force."

His eyes grew large with awe. "Does that mean you're a Jedi?"

She laughed at his reaction, grabbing his hands again and folding them in her reddish ones. "Yes. I am a Jedi." He leapt out of his chair, torn between saluting like he'd been told or bouncing up and down with excitement. Never had he ever thought he would have gotten to meet a  _Jetii_! At least not until he was deployed. In the end, he just decided to keep his hands plastered against his sides. He didn't want to do anything wrong in front of a  _Jetii_.

The woman _-Jedi-_ continued talking. "That light you were talking about, that's the Force."

"If I have the li- the Force," he began, sorting his thoughts out loud, "then does that mean I'm a Jedi too?" He looked up at her expectantly.

Her smile grew. "Not yet. But you could be. Do you see what I'm asking you, Rex?" She knelt down to be closer to him. "I'm asking if I can train you to be a Jedi." His jaw dropped open. He couldn't believe it _. Him? A Jetii?_ The light sang with rightness, urging him to say yes. And yet…

"I sense you're uneasy." The woman eyed him, concern flitting over her features. He felt it thought the light as well.

"It's just…" he trailed off, fidgeting with his fingers again. "I want to be a Jedi but… I don't want to leave my brothers."

The woman's eyes softened, concern slowly easing away. "That's nothing to worry about Rex. You can stay here and train with your brothers. I'll be stationed here for a while to oversee everything, but during that time, I can train you in the ways of the Force as well."

"Oh." He didn't really know what else to say. This all seemed too good, like a dream he had after a long day of training. But the light flared up within him again, singing with certainty that this  _was_  real.

"So what do you say, Rex? Would you like to be my padawan?"

His face lit up in a smile. "Yes!" he cried, throwing himself into the woman's arms. The gesture felt  _so_ natural, like he was meant to be here, with the woman, and everything was finally  _right_. He didn't know how he didn't see this before, how this part of him was missing. The woman laughed again, the sound so warm and full of the light. He wanted to make her laugh more. It was nice when she laughed.

She pulled them apart, standing up and setting her hands on his shoulders instead. "Well then, my new  _Padawan,_  are you ready to go make this official?" He nodded, not exactly knowing what that entailed, but ready for it all the same. She moved to his side, holding out one hand for him to grasp tightly in her own. His other hand reached out and grabbed his finished drawing. He had to show it to Cody after all. She smiled down at him again and he couldn't help but smile back, huge grin splitting across his face.

That was how he walked out the doors, hand in hand with the Jedi Master.  _No,_  he thought,  _not just any Jedi Master. **My** Jedi Master._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have any questions about things that are happening in this AU, feel free to ask! I don't exactly have everything planned out so... Yeah, just ask and I'll try my best to answer! :)


	2. Permission is a Funny Thing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sorta don't know exactly what I'm doing in this fic so don't expect updates to be too frequent. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

Shaak stood by the holoprojector in her new quarters on Kamino. It was time to comm the Council about the new padawan she would be taking. Rex was just outside the small room where the comm system was held, waiting for her to call him in. It wasn't a matter of her not wanting him there, quite the opposite in fact. She'd love to have Rex beside her. The Force sang at that thought, almost as if it was saying he was meant to be by her side. The notion wasn't that crazy; she couldn't deny the fact that she'd felt a strong connection to him as soon as she encountered him with his squad in the halls one afternoon. His force-presence was bright and warm in way she hadn't seen in a long time, not since the war had begun. Shaak had always been good at perceiving the future through the Force in a way that not many others could: through emotions, feelings, imprints of what could be. When she talked with Rex later that day, she was nearly overwhelmed with what she felt. She couldn't describe what those feelings were to anyone if they asked, they simply wouldn't have made sense to anyone but her. It was love and compassion and strength and a sense of home, of comfort, of something more that felt completely and utterly  _right_  when she thought about it. She asked Rex to be her padawan right away and as soon as he said yes, she knew no one, not the Kaminoians, not the Senate, not even the Council could stop her from doing what she promised to him. Of course, that didn't mean she wouldn't at least try to get permission first.

And therein lie the reason Rex was not with her. The Council, or whatever Masters they scrounged up to act as advisors for the time being, would likely turn this entire conversation she was about to have into an interrogation, not only for her but for Rex as well. If there was one thing she learned from being a Jedi  _and_ a member of the Council itself, it was that it can be absolutely terrifying once the Councilors start into a certain line of questioning. Though she knew Rex had probably been through so much worse as a soldier-in-training, this day had probably been strange enough for him and he didn't need to be questioned by a bunch of Jedi in a circle as they demanded answers to questions he hardly knew anything about. She let them get it all out before she called Rex into the room, and then they would move on from there.

She pressed the button that put the call through and soon, seven, tiny, blue holograms appeared before her. "Master Ti. A pleasure to hear from you, it is." She bowed her head in response, glancing at the other members present out of the corner of her eye. There was Yoda and Windu, but that was a given for just about any meeting seeing as they were almost always on Coruscant. Mundi was there and surprisingly, so was Kenobi. The actual council members ended there, sadly. She had at least hoped for Luminara or Plo to be present; they could always be counted on to keep calm in most council situations (honestly, she could already feel the headache that would come from this meeting), but she supposed Kenobi would be good enough.

The other three members were of no importance really. They tended to stay out of matters between council members like this and would more than likely just watch the discussion play out. Well, two of them would. The third she knew would not stay silent as soon as she started talking about any clone at all. Pong Krell. She scowled to herself. Jedi were not supposed to hate but she was sure close to it when it came to the besalisk. His lack of care for anything other than the objective drove her absolutely insane some days. She could only hope that he'd sit down and shut up during the meeting for once.

"Thank you, Master. I have something I wish to discuss with you all."

"Does this have anything to do with clone training you were sent to supervise on Kamino?" Windu asked, getting straight to the point. Good She didn't particularly like all the preamble anyways.

"In a way, yes. On my first day here, I came into contact with a young cadet. One who happens to be force-sensitive." Eyebrows shot up across the room.

"Are you sure?" Mundi asked, leaning forward more in his seat now. At least she had their interest now.

"Positive. His connection to the Force is unlike anything I've ever seen in someone so young."

"Strange that we have never had this occur before," Kenobi said, reaching up to stroke his beard. "You'd think that if it was possible, we would have seen this already."

"If will it, the Force does, than so shall it be." Yoda said, offering her a small smile.

"The Kaminoians could have had some hand in concealing any other cases before," Mace added, rubbing at his temple and most likely remembering all the other times they had to 'revisit' how the Kaminoians conducted their operation. It was why she was here in the first place, after all. "It might be a good idea to look into that."

"It's on my list already, Master Windu," she replied.

Yoda hummed, tapping his gimmer stick lightly on the ground to gain everyone's attention. "More to say, I sense you have, Master Ti?"

She smiled to herself briefly before nodding her head in acknowledgement of the Grandmaster. "It's about the clone I mentioned earlier, Rex. I wish to train him as a Jedi."

"Train a clone to be a Jedi?" She barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes as the booming voice of the besalisk Jedi Master came through the speakers of the comm system. "He may be force-sensitive, but he's still a clone." His voice was all incredulity, as if he was completely baffled by the idea that someone would even  _suggest_  to have a clone do  _anything_ other than what they already do. Really, it was a good thing she wasn't with him in person; she would have throttled him right then and there. But she was Master Shaak Ti, known for her serenity and patience, so of course, no one would ever know anything of what she was currently think about doing to Krell at that moment. She didn't turn to face him as she responded, choosing to speak her next words to the Council instead of him. It wasn't like he would get to tell her what to do anyways. The four Council members present would have the final decision on what is to be done, all she had to do was make sure her side was heard.

"Just because he is a clone does not mean he is not deserving of the training any other force-sensitive sentient would receive," She glanced over at Krell for a second before continuing. "I would be  _very_ disappointed if members of the Jedi Council thought that the men we serve with and trust to have our backs on the battlefield are lesser simply because they are clones."

Kenobi shook his head. "You know no one on this council thinks like that, Shaak." He also glanced over at Krell as he said that. The besalisk looked positively angry at the hidden meaning in the statement. Kenobi, on the other hand, seemed very pleased with himself, and she could swear he winked at her. So she was not the only one who disliked Krell then. Good to know.

"Approve of this apprenticeship, the Council will. Work out the details, we shall." He dismissed the three other Masters, leaving just the four Councilors in the room. Now that it was decided, she had no problem with now allowing Rex in the room. They wouldn't be excessive questioning if it was just the five of them, all of whom support the apprenticeship. She was just about to ask to go call him when Yoda said it for her. "Call in the boy to speak with us. Privy to his own fate, he should be, hmm?"

Shaak smiled at him as she made for the door to the room beyond. "Of course, Master."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, feel free to ask questions!


	3. Meeting the Council

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look! I'm not dead! I finally managed to actually write something and I'm hoping that my inspiration will keep me going and I'll update again tomorrow, but we'll see!

Rex sat on a chair outside Shaak Ti's personal comm room, swinging his feet back and forth idly. If he listened carefully, he could hear small parts of the conversation going on between his new master and the Jedi Council. That idea was still hard to wrap his head around.  _Him_ , an actual  _Jetii_. The light sang whenever he thought of it. He liked when the light did that. It was always such a nice feeling, filling him with warmth and calm whenever he heard its sweet song.

He caught another snippet of the conversation going on behind the closed door of comm room. Something about looking into what the Kaminoians were doing. His master told him it might be awhile until the Council was ready to talk to him. He was okay with that. He was perfectly content with listening to the song the light kept singing for him. He'd never taken the time (not that he had much of it in between all his training) to  _really_  listen to the light before, not like this. It was relaxing, in a way, to lose himself in the soothing waves of the light as its melody flowed around him.

It didn't last as long as he would have liked. In the room beyond, he could hear someone ask his master to bring him in. He jumped up from his seat in an instant, stopping just to the side of the door and falling into parade rest like he was taught. His master walked through the door, seemingly surprised to see him there. "Rex? Have you been standing there waiting the whole time?" she asked, sounding concerned.

He shook his head, slightly confused. "I heard someone ask to bring me in, so I came." His master looked even more surprised now.

"You were able to hear what we were saying? Through the door?"

He nodded, shifting uncomfortably.  _Was he not supposed to have done that?_  He didn't  _mean_  to do anything wrong, he just- the trainers always liked it when the cadets were ready and waiting for them and- were Jedi the same? He didn't know. Would- would his master get rid of him if he screwed up? He didn't  _mean to_ -  _he just thought_ -

"Rex! Focus on me!" His master's voice broke through his thoughts, his mind automatically following the order he'd been given. He looked up into his master's eyes, dark brown and filled with concern. Concern for  _him._  She was crouched down in front of him, hands on his shoulders, but he could see the blue glow of a hologram behind her.  _The Jedi Council_. He was supposed to talk with them-

"Rex, don't worry about them now, alright?" He refocused back on his master. "You didn't do anything wrong, Rex," she said, "I was just surprised that you were able to hear us. That door is very good at blocking out sound, enough so that even a species with advanced hearing like me wouldn't be able to hear what's happened on the other side. Not without the aid of the Force. That's all you were doing, Rex, just using the Force. That's not anything bad or something you did wrong."

He blinked up at her. "How'd you know that's what I was thinking?"

She gave him a small smile. "You were projecting." He opened his mouth to ask what that meant, but she was already answering. "It's like putting your thoughts and feelings out into the Force for everyone to see. It's nothing bad, but it is something we need to work on." She stood up, holding out her hand. "Are you okay with going to talk to the Council now? Or do you want to wait a bit?"

"'m okay," he said, taking her hand. She gave him another smile and they walked into the comm room. Rex gripped her hand a little tighter as they did. Seeing one  _Jetti_  was already a strange thing to happen to him, but to see  _four Jetii masters_  on top of that... It was a little overwhelming.

"Young Rex." The words came from small, troll-like master sitting in the middle of the group. He'd heard stories about this particular  _Jetii. Master Yoda_ , Grandmaster of the Order and one of the strongest Jedi there is. "A pleasure to meet you it is." He blinked at the master's words.  _Did- did he just say everything backwards?_

Another Jedi, this one a human with a beard, started chuckling. "No matter the youngling, they all look the same once they hear Master Yoda speak," the man said, his blue form gazing down at Rex and smiling.

The small master tapped his cane on the floor, frowning. "Make fun of  _your accent_  I do not. Why make fun of mine, hmm?" The masters chuckled at whatever joke was going on between them, and Rex leaned further back into his master, seeking some small amount of comfort in this meeting he felt so out of place in.

His master got the message, resting one reassuring hand on his shoulder while still holding his hand in the other. "Masters, the ceremony?"

The other human  _Jetti_ , a bald man, sat forward and steepled his fingers together. "Shaak Ti. Do you take on Rex to be your Padawan learner and promise to teach him to the best of your ability as you guide him on his journey to knighthood?"

"I do," she replied, gently squeezing his shoulder and smiling down at him.

"And Rex," the man said, "Do you accept Master Shaak Ti as your master and promise to learn from her teachings as you progress to one day becoming a knight or master yourself?"

The light pulsed around him, warm and soothing and singing in his ears as he squeezed his master's hand and spoke the words that would change everything for him.

"Yes. I do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I'll answer any questions you might have!  
> You can also find me @jedi-master-megan on Tumblr if you want to say hi! :)


	4. Master and Padawan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look another chapter! It's mAgiC!
> 
> Anyways, I was looking over the other chapters and I noticed I've been spelling "kaminoan" wrong this entire time... And it turns out Shaak Ti's eyes are purple, not brown like I thought (see this is why we actually click on the Wookiepedia article instead of just looking at the first picture that comes up :P) So yeah, I'm gonna go back and fix all that BUT this actually brings me to my next point. I make a LOT of mistakes while writing, and I don't always catch them, so I'm looking for a beta reader for this story! If you're interested, message me and we'll see if we can figure something out! :)

The meeting didn’t last much longer. The Council discussed a few more things about how his master would conduct his training before their small, blue forms blinked out of existence, leaving the two of them alone in the darkened comm room. Shaak smiled at him again, her happiness felt so clearly in the light, and gestured for him to follow her back into the main room. He sat back down in the chair he was in before while his master searched for something in another room off to the side, not quite sure what he should do now. He was a Padawan now, yes, but he was also a clone trooper, and his master had said earlier that he would still be allowed to train with his brothers. Yet there was surely a lot of training required to be a  _ Jetti _ , right?  _ When would he find the time to do it all? _ They already had such limited free time…

But he  _ really wants _ to be a Jedi. The thought of  _ not _ getting to be one now, having felt how the light brightens and swirls around him when he says it, makes him feel like he can’t breath. He squeezed his eyes shut, taking a couple deep breaths and trying to ignore the sick feeling that suddenly appeared in his stomach. He probably just didn’t eat enough during the midday meal today. He’d make sure he’d eat his bread tomorrow instead of giving it to Ponds.

His master entered the main room again, her attention focused on the datapad in her hand. She sat down on the long couch in the center of the room, looking around before finally seeing him on the chair. “Rex, you don’t have to keep sitting in that chair,” she said. “You could have sat over here if you wanted.”

“I just-” He looked down at his lap, fidgeting with his fingers. “I didn’t want to do anything wrong…” He glanced back up again and Shaak was smiling again, but this time her smile didn’t look happy. It almost looked… sad... 

“Oh, Rex,” he heard her whisper, the sad smile still on her face. “Come over here,” she said, louder this time and patting the space on the couch next to her. He stood and moved to the couch, sinking into the cushions when he sat down. He startled a little at the feeling, running his hand across the fluffy fabric.

“It’s so soft,” he blurted out, his mind not completely registering that words were coming out of his mouth until he had already said them. Shaak laughed though, a happy smile finally replacing the sad one as amusement filled the currents of the light around them.

“Yes, it is soft.” She grinned at him and wrapped an arm around him, pulling him close. He rested his head up against her side, her  _ Jetti _ robes even softer than the couch. He closed his eyes, letting the waves of the light wash over him again. It was even more peaceful with his master around. Eventually, she pulled away, but stayed close as she took his hands and folded them in her cooler ones once again. “Rex,” she began, a more serious look in her eyes now. “I know the Kaminoans are very strict about what you can and can’t do, but in this room, it’s not like that. You don’t need permission from me all the time. You may be the padawan and I the master,” she continued, gesturing to both of them, “but it is still a partnership between us. As your master, I am here to  _ guide _ you, not tell you what to do,” she said with a shake of her head. “You can make decisions for  _ yourself _ , do what  _ you _ want to do. And you don’t have to worry about whether what you do in here is right or wrong.” One of her hands let go of his and cupped his cheek instead. “I may have only met you today, but I can tell you are a  _ very _ sweet and caring boy, Rex, and would never purposely do the wrong thing.”

“But… but what if I  _ do _ do something wrong?” he whispered, feeling sick to his stomach again. “What if I make a mistake?”

“Then you made a mistake,” she replied without missing a beat.” I can’t fault you for that.” She stroked his cheek gently, the motion somehow helping smooth away the tight feeling in his chest and stomach. “No one’s perfect, Rex. We all make mistakes.”

“Even you?” he asked.

“Yes,” she laughed, “Even me.” She pulled him in close again and this time he hugged her as hard as he could. He felt her chest rise and fall as she chuckled and her arms wrapped around him a little tighter. They stayed like that for a while, and Rex didn’t mind it at all. But...

He looked up at his master, nudging one of her white and blue head-thingies just slightly out of the way. “Can I ask you a question?”

His master smirked at him. “You just did.”

He blinked and Shaak began to laugh again, ruffling his short blond hair until he was giggling too. “You can always ask me questions, Rex,” she said, once their laughter had died down. “Always.”

He sat up so he could talk to her better, folding his legs beneath him. “Now that I’m your Padawan, what do I call you?” He had been referring to her as his master up until now, but something about that just… didn’t seem right.

“Traditionally, a Padawan would refer to their teacher as ‘master.’ But what does the Force tell you to call me?

He closed his eyes, listening to the song of the light. He opened them again not long after. “I… I don’t know,” he said, frowning. “I know there’s  _ something _ I’ll call you, but I don’t know what it is.”

His master hummed thoughtfully. “Perhaps you are not meant to know yet,” she mused, raising a hand to her chin.

“Why wouldn’t I be able to know?” he asked, tilting his head in confusion.

Shaak shrugged her shoulders. “The Force works in mysterious ways sometimes, ways we don’t always understand. But when the time is right, I’m sure the Force will reveal the answer to you. Until then, you can simply call me Shaak, if that’s alright with you.” He nodded and shifted himself again so he could curl back up against her. The name wasn’t perfect, but it would do for now.

Shaak reached to the other side of her and pulled out the datapad he’d seen her with earlier. He’d forgotten she had that. “It looks like your squad just finished with their last training exercise for the day,” she said, looking down at information that scrolled across the screen. “I’m sure you want to have the chance to talk with them before the last meal.”

He peered around her head-thingy to look at the datapad. “You have my schedule?”

She nodded. “The Kaminoans were nice enough to give me a copy of it so I can talk with your trainers tomorrow. Perhaps some of the classes you are doing the best in can be switched out for training with me.”

“You mean… I’d still have most of my free time?” he asked, looking up at her hopefully.

“Of course you would, Rex,” she said, setting the datapad back down. “Everyone needs time to unwind and relax, especially those your age. You may be a clone cadet, but you are still a kid. You can’t always be training at all hours of the day,” she explained.

“Oh. Guess I never thought about it like that.” She patted him on the back, standing up as she did so.

“Don’t worry too much about it, Rex. We’ll work something out.” She smiled down at him, holding out a hand to hoist him off the couch. “Come on, I’ll show you how to get back to the barracks from here.” The facilities hallways weren’t difficult to navigate and he was pretty sure he could find his way back on his own, but he took her hand anyways. They passed the counter of the small kitchenette on their way to the door, and he stopped to grab his picture from where he left it when they first entered the room. He still had to show it to Cody. That’d be the first thing he’d do when he saw him. Then he could tell him about the rest.

He skipped back over to Shaak, who was waiting by the door for him. He took her hand again and they walked out. The light sang as they made their way through the walls, happy and bright, and he couldn’t help but think that things were going to be  _ great. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, feel free to ask questions! I actually started plotting out a galactic timeline for this AU so I hopefully I can answer those types of questions a lot easier! :)


End file.
